A woman is bravely speaking out 20 years after the case against a man charged with raping her was thrown out in a fresh battle for justice.

Laura Thurman was standing in her newsagents some years after her case was dismissed by prosecutors – to find herself staring at a picture of the man she says raped her, on the front page of a newspaper.

The story turned her blood cold, it described how the man who had forced her to have sex had now murdered his teenage ex-girlfriend.

It’s an image that haunts Laura to this day.

Laura Thurman pictured in 1999

She never saw the man put on trial in 1997, despite reporting it to the police and seeing him charged for the offence, because she was deemed not mentally well enough to testify against him. Now she will always wonder what might have been if he had been tried.

“You can never know, if my case had been taken forward whether he would’ve been put in prison,” said Laura.

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Laura moved to Plymouth in 1997 and, after a childhood marred with anxiety and depression, in September she was discharged from hospital and care on the same day.

She was finally starting afresh with support from NCH Action for Children, a home to live in, and a place in college.

“I felt for the first time that things in my life were moving forward,” Laura said.

“I was very vulnerable at the time and I had support in place with NCH Action for Children on North Hill.”

Laura stayed in a flat for care leavers, where her friend was dating a man. Laura befriended a local PC and after learning that her friend’s boyfriend was involved in drugs, Laura decided she wanted to help convict him.

Laura Thurman pictured in 2001

“I was very informed in anyone who wanted to take a positive interest in me and this PC did,” Laura said.

“I was led to believe this man was dealing in amphetamines. I informed the PC and I couldn’t say she pressured me to do anything, but I wanted to please her.”

Laura, who had never been involved with drugs before, recalled buying a £10 bag of amphetamine from the man who ended up a murderer.

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“The police officer said it wasn’t enough evidence, but told me to keep telling her if I heard any more,” Laura said.

By December, Laura was living on Arundel Crescent off North Road West, and had found herself a job in a kebab shop in Union Street, but the man worked nearby.

“He was a delivery driver,” Laura said.

“He used to stop by and I was utterly oblivious to any attraction there. I identified as lesbian from the age of 14 and I saw myself as unlovable. I talked to him to try and gain information to pass on to the police.”

On December 29, Laura went out to post a letter and her friend passed in a car and invited her to her boyfriend’s flat in Lipson for a drink.

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That night, Laura’s friend argued with her boyfriend and once Laura was left alone with him he told her: “You’re the one I really want”. It was then Laura says she was brutally raped.

“I would never have got in the car that night if it weren’t for me trying to get more info on him,” Laura said.

“Drinking was not my thing and I felt I was safe because my friend was there.”

Laura went to the police that day.

Laura reported the rape to police the same day

“The PC I knew was off duty so another female PC came to my flat. I don’t know who rang her after that but she came to see me and I remember being so conflicted about whether to report it or not and she said if you don’t want to report it that’s fine, we’ll go down the drugs route instead.

“I was put in the car with her and another PC, I remember having to identify the flat, and then I was taken to the rape suite at the end of Mutley Plain. I had an ABE and my clothes were taken for forensic tests.”

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The man was arrested and charged late in the evening and appeared at Magistrates Court the day after. He pleaded not guilty and was bailed without restriction.

Several weeks later, Laura was told the Crown Prosecution Service was pursuing her case.

“I remember crying down the phone. I was so relieved that someone believed me,” she said.

But around six weeks after that, Laura received what she describes as a “brief” call from a Detective Constable to say the case was being dropped because they didn’t believe she was mentally fit enough.

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“I can only surmise that the case collapsed because background checks were done into my mental state,” she said.

“I had a significant background of self-harming, anxiety and depression and was in an acute psychiatric ward for eight weeks in 1997. I was a ward of the High Court.

“To be honest I struggled, I went to bits. I had no support – I was diagnosed with PTSD, I was afraid to go back to my flat. I wasn’t sleeping. I started using drugs and attracted the kind of friends who took drugs.”

“I know victims blame themselves, but I really did feel I was to blame. I felt guilty for reporting it.”

Laura Thurman was raped by a man when she lived in Plymouth in 1997. (Image: Chris Booth of the Newcastle Chronicle)

In the past two years Laura has applied for a Victim’s Right to Review to review the decisions made, but this was only available for cases taking place after June 2013 and CPS reportedly informed Laura in November 2016 that too much time had elapsed to investigate. She was also told she was not eligible for the Child Sexual Abuse Review Panel (which looks again at cases where a person is concerned that they have made previous allegations of being a victim of a sexual offence when they were under the age of 18) because charges were brought even if they were later dropped.

The Professional Standards department of Devon and Cornwall Police are now investigating.

As a last resort, Laura recently appeared on the Channel Five documentary Raped: My Story.

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“When I received a response to my Subject Access Request with the police this year it noted I was not vulnerable, intimidated or a victim of serious crime.

“I went on the documentary because it was the only avenue left to me,” she said.

“I was told my files were destroyed. I will never get justice for what has been done to me.”

A police spokesperson said: “Professional Standard are currently investigating a complaint on behalf of Laura Thurman. Whilst this investigation takes place, we are unable to comment further. A full response will be issued directly to the complainant in the New Year.”

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A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “The case to which Ms Thurman refers was concluded in 1997. There are a number of avenues for a victim to request that a decision made by the CPS is reconsidered. In 2013 the CPS introduced the Victims Right to Review (VRR) scheme, which gives victims the right to request a review any decision we make not to bring charges, or to bring proceedings to an end. VRR came into force on 5 June 2013 and does not apply retrospectively, so Ms Thurman’s case does not fall within the scheme.

“A further right to review has been established by the CPS and police joint Child Sexual Abuse Review Panel, but there are criteria which every case must meet before the case will be considered for review. As charges had been authorised in Ms Thurman’s case but the case stopped following charge, the case does not meet the criteria for review.”